He was a friendly Solano County Deputy District Attorney, each day always seemingly welcoming, engaging or sharing humorous stories with his colleagues, defense attorneys, bailiffs or court staff before judges took their seats in Solano County Superior Court in Fairfield.

Then the smiles and quiet laughter would cease and it was all business for Daniel Madow, 31, whose last day in the Solano DA’s office was Friday. A 2008 graduate of Sonoma State University and 2013 graduate of the University of San Francisco Law School, he leaves behind a two-year record of successful criminal prosecutions, most recently sex crimes cases, before moving on to the Marin County District Attorney’s Office in San Rafael. He starts work Monday.

In a brief interview last week, Madow, the 2017 Solano County Prosecutor of the Year, reflected on his time prosecuting sex assaults, rapes, child molestations, incest cases, among others.

He said many of the cases were difficult to prosecute because of “the requirements of hard evidence” and the “polarizing” nature of sex crimes.

Still, to witness his closing arguments in such cases is to see and hear a clear-minded attorney deeply intent on persuading sometimes skeptical jurors and obtaining guilty verdicts, the latter of which he did 11 times in 13 felony jury trials during his time in Solano. Notably, he obtained a conviction in People v. Hallock, a case involving a mother who, while under the influence of methamphetamine, left her baby alone in a bathtub, resulting in the child’s death.

Earlier this year, during a preliminary hearing for Heath J. Sommer, a former Travis Air Force Base psychologist charged with rape and sexual assault of several female airmen undergoing trauma therapy — a case that made national headlines — Madow, after calling witnesses and presenting evidence, made a spirited and convincing argument to hold the defendant accountable. Judge, E. Bradley Nelson agreed, and Sommer is proceeding toward jury trial.

While working for Solano DA Krishna Abrams, he conducted some 150 or more preliminary hearings, and probation and parole violation hearings.

“I love this job,” said Madow, a brown-haired man with a slightly ruddy face given to smiling broadly. “I will never do anything else.”

Why?

“I love the theater and serving the victims of crime,” he added and admitted to being “loud and obnoxious” at times. “There’s no greater feeling that providing justice” to the family of a sex crime victim.

But the reverse, “losing a big case,” he said, pausing, then added, “It hurts.”

Still, Madow takes some solace in such instances in knowing “the victim got my all, the jury got my all.” Yet, he admits to waking up “at 2 or 3 in the morning” and reliving part or parts of the trial and realizing that 12 jurors “can see things differently.”

“The bad moments in a career are dwarfed by the good moments,” he said.

Before signing on with the Solano DA’s Office, Madow, the son of an attorney, worked for one year as deputy district attorney in Mendocino County in Ukiah, where he was the 2014 “Trial Dog” (Attorney) of the Year.

During his time there, he participated in 10 jury trials and was promoted, at one point, to prosecuting serious and violent felonies in July 2015. Within six months, Madow handled a full felony case load, the cases ranging from assault with a deadly weapon and burglary in the first degree to robbery and arson to narcotics sales and manufacturing controlled substances, to name several. He also worked closely with the Mendocino County Major Crimes Task Force in approving and overseeing the use of confidential informants.

“I learned from the best in the state when I was a ‘baby DA,’ ” in Mendocino County, said Madow, citing his mentor at the time, Deputy DA Paul Sequeira. “I learned how to be a trial lawyer from him. I ask him questions to this day. He was a great boss. He got along with everyone. He was respected.”

Madow’s resume is rounded out with a stint as a supervising law clerk in the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office in Santa Rosa for nearly two years. There, he obtained convictions in four bench trials, among other successful legal proceedings. For a time in 2012, he worked as a law clerk for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, writing an article titled “What Nursing Homes Must Post for the Public” for a nursing home advocacy publication.

Before he became an attorney, Madow worked as a medical assistant at Kaiser Permanente in San Rafael, providing medical services to at-risk elderly and frail patients, administering injections, taking vital signs and assisting with minor surgery.

When not poring over documents related to his cases, Madow, who was raised in Marin County and lives there, is a diehard sports fan, especially for NBA champions Golden State Warriors. On his last day of work for the Solano DA, he sported a yellow tie with the Warriors emblem printed on it. He plays in a flag football and soccer league, time permitting. He is married and he and his wife are expecting their first child on Christmas Eve.